A Deluge of Evidence for the Flood?

Creationism, Evolution, and other science issues

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
LittlePig
Sage
Posts: 916
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:51 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

A Deluge of Evidence for the Flood?

Post #1

Post by LittlePig »

otseng wrote:
goat wrote:
otseng wrote:
LittlePig wrote: And I can't think of any reason you would make the comment you made if you weren't suggesting that the find favored your view of a worldwide flood.
Umm, because simply it's a better explanation? And the fact that it's more consistent with the Flood Model doesn't hurt either. ;)
Except, of course, it isn't consistent with a 'Flood Model', since it isn't mixed in with any animals that we know are modern.
Before the rabbits multiply beyond control, I'll just leave my proposal as a rapid burial. Nothing more than that. For this thread, it can just be a giant mud slide.
Since it's still spring time, let's let the rabbits multiply.

Questions for Debate:

1) Does a Global Flood Model provide the best explanation for our current fossil record, geologic formations, and biodiversity?

2) What real science is used in Global Flood Models?

3) What predictions does a Global Flood Model make?

4) Have Global Flood Models ever been subjected to a formal peer review process?
"Well thanks a lot, Plato." - James ''Sawyer'' Ford
"Don''t flip ya lid." - Ricky Rankin

User avatar
JoeyKnothead
Banned
Banned
Posts: 20879
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:59 am
Location: Here
Has thanked: 4093 times
Been thanked: 2573 times

Post #41

Post by JoeyKnothead »

From Page 4 Post 39:
otseng wrote: When we date rocks at Mt St Helens, we know exactly how old the rocks are (~ 30 yrs old), since we've witnessed the event. Yet, radioisotope dating puts the rocks on the order of hundreds of thousands of years old. So, if radioisotope dating gives a false value for something that we know the age for, how can we rely on it for something we do not know the age for?
This is why an aggregate of various methods and samples are used, and results derived thereof.
I might be Teddy Roosevelt, but I ain't.
-Punkinhead Martin

User avatar
Scotracer
Guru
Posts: 1772
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:25 pm
Location: Scotland

Post #42

Post by Scotracer »

Scotracer wrote: If the Flood Model is at least partially correct their should be uniform folding throughout the entire strata height.
Yes, the FM would predict that generally we would see folding that would affect the entire sequence at any particular location on Earth. Same goes for erosion, faults, etc.

Now, would you agree that in standard geology that we should see roughly a uniform distribution of these in stratas? Folding, erosion, faulting should stop at one strata, and above that, it would not be affected.[/quote]

I fail to see why geology suggests only one strata be folded. Plate tectonics and general uplift will cause large-scale folding to occur (over 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 1,000 strata).

Also, Folding is a term used to describe changes in geology after strata have formed. If the Flood model is as you say it is, that would require events after the strata formed to cause the folds.
otseng wrote:
Joey is talking about strata just about everywhere in the world that is dated millions of years apart from the others (one easy example of this is the Grand Canyon). How could this be with the Flood Model?
The dating relies primarily on radioisotope dating. But, there are quite a number of assumptions that needs to hold true in order for it to be valid.

When we date rocks at Mt St Helens, we know exactly how old the rocks are (~ 30 yrs old), since we've witnessed the event. Yet, radioisotope dating puts the rocks on the order of hundreds of thousands of years old. So, if radioisotope dating gives a false value for something that we know the age for, how can we rely on it for something we do not know the age for?
As Joey eluded to, there are numerous methods for dating and when dating is taken place, more than one method is used to give an aggregate date.

Also, where are the sources for that link you provided? I read it and it claims many things but doesn't give any external sources. It states that the origin of the samples are unknown - only citing "Mt St Helens" - but continues to draw conclusions from them.

I just googled "Mt St Helens radiometric dating" to try and find some sources on it and was greeted with this.

This article states (and I quote):

"Considering that the half-life of potassium-40 (40K) is fairly long (1,250 million years, McDougall and Harrison, 1999, p. 9), the K-Ar method cannot be used to date samples that are much younger than 6,000 years old (Dalrymple, 1991, p. 93). A few thousand years are not enough time for 40Ar to accumulate in a sample at high enough concentrations to be detected and quantified. Furthermore, many geochronology laboratories do not have the expensive state-of-the-art equipment to accurately measure argon in samples that are only a few million years old. Specifically, the laboratory personnel that performed the K-Ar dating for Austin et al. Specifically, personnel at Geochron Laboratories of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, performed the K-Ar dating for Austin et al. This laboratory no longer performs K-Ar dating. However, when they did, their website clearly stated in a footnote that their equipment could not accurately date rocks that are younger than about 2 million years old ("We cannot analyze samples expected to be younger than 2 M.Y."; also see discussions by Bartelt et al.). With less advanced equipment, 'memory effects' can be a problem with very young samples (Dalrymple, 1969, p. 48). That is, very tiny amounts of argon contaminants from previous analyses may remain within the equipment, which precludes accurate dates for very young samples. For older samples, which contain more 40Ar, the contamination is diluted and has insignificant effects."

Now, looking at the table on the link you provided (which is mirrored on the one I have), you can see that "Pyroxene" is stated as over 2.8MY old. That is the first blunder - the rest of that page gives a full analysis of why it is wrong (and this time it has all the links, references and quotations necessary!).

The conclusions from the article (although I still recommend reading the paper even if just for educational purposes):

"Figure 4 in Austin's report, by itself, indicates that ancient zoned grains (phenocrysts and perhaps some xenocrysts) were common in Austin's dacite from Mt. St. Helens. It's also obvious from Austin's text that he was unsuccessful in adequately separating the volcanic glass from the much older minerals. Austin should have known that if he wanted to date the 1986 AD eruption the phenocrysts needed to be entirely removed from his 'fractions' and that another method besides K-Ar dating would have been required. Furthermore, when Austin submitted his samples to Geochron Laboratories, he failed to heed warnings from the laboratory about the limitations of their equipment. Both Austin and Swenson ignored the implications of zoned minerals and Bowen's Reaction Series on the age of the dacite. Obviously, it's Austin's improper use of the K-Ar method and not the method itself that is flawed. Rather than recognizing the flaws in Austin's essay, Swenson simply parrots Austin's erroneous claims without really understanding the chemistry and mineralogy of dacites. "

I'm not questioning your personal honesty but one must realise that there are people out there willing to blur science for their own personal ideologies and as a precaution all references must be checked. This is just another example of Creationist abuse of science for personal gain (the most obvious other example of it is the supposed Mammoth whose leg was thousands of years older/younger than the rest of it).
Why Evolution is True
Universe from nothing

Claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence
- Christopher Hitchens

neillos
Student
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2005 5:18 pm
Location: Indiana

Evidence for Flood Does Exist!!!

Post #43

Post by neillos »

I spent several years in Missoula, Montana. On clear days I could see many horizontal lines going up the side of Mt Sentinel, at the edge of town. I later learned that these lines were primary evidences for a catastrophic flood 10-15K years ago.

Other evidences include oddly shaped hills on the valley floors, formed when water dropped its load of debris as it slowed, parallel ridges interpreted as ripple marks, and the Washington Scablands with their huge dry falls, plunge pools, and channels. See the link below

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/onli ... 2/sec5.htm

So we have overwhelming evidences of a flood at roughly the time period YECs give for the Flood. However, these evidences are of a localized catastrophe with a clear physical cause. An ice dam formed where the drainage of the Clarks Fork River exited the mountains, backing up its waters for decades. Ice will float, so when the water rose high enough the ice dam broke catastrophically. In a matter of 2-3 days a volume of water roughly equal to Lake Ontario came gushing out. This process was repeated at least 30 times as the ice dam formed again - never quite as high or strong as the first time, so less water backed up.

It boggles the mind. Almost Biblical in its proportions. Glacial Lake Missoula shows that given sufficient evidence scientists are willing to accept the reality of a flood.

AND YET ... None of these evidences that define the scientific theory of Glacial Lake Missoula are to be found generally in the world. In particular, the Grand Canyon, what the YECs call a "Monument to Catastrophe" are totally barren of these evidences. Where are the horizontal water marks? Where are the hollowed out canyons - U-shaped as opposed to V-shaped from of the rush of water? Where are the dry falls, the potholes, the wave marks?

We know what a flood will do, what the geological evidence looks like. It's not there. It's to be found only in a few isolated locales with clear physical causes.

User avatar
otseng
Savant
Posts: 20794
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:16 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA
Has thanked: 211 times
Been thanked: 360 times
Contact:

Post #44

Post by otseng »

Scotracer wrote:I fail to see why geology suggests only one strata be folded.
I'm not suggesting that. Let me illustrate what I mean. In the diagram below, from one strata and all lower stratas would have evidence of a fault. The stratas above it would not.

Image

And here's an example of erosion:

Image

If the Flood model is as you say it is, that would require events after the strata formed to cause the folds.
Yes, the FM has a mechanism to explain it. Please read the Global Flood thread where I present the Flood model. If there are additional questions after reading through it, I can address it here.
We cannot analyze samples expected to be younger than 2 M.Y
Well, since the Geochron labs now no longer does K-Ar dating, I cannot confirm that "We cannot analyze samples expected to be younger than 2 M.Y" was on their website.

And the charge that "very tiny amounts of argon contaminants from previous analyses may remain within the equipment, which precludes accurate dates for very young samples", I think would be highly speculative.

He also charges Austin with a failure to properly identify the phenocrysts. But, Henke even states "For even the best mineralogists and petrologists, xenocrysts may be difficult to distinguish from phenocrysts." This would place a significant human source of error into any K-Ar dating.
Last edited by otseng on Mon May 25, 2009 1:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
otseng
Savant
Posts: 20794
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:16 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA
Has thanked: 211 times
Been thanked: 360 times
Contact:

Re: Evidence for Flood Does Exist!!!

Post #45

Post by otseng »

neillos wrote:and the Washington Scablands with their huge dry falls, plunge pools, and channels. See the link below
Just for reference, we've debated the Scablands before. And thanks to Bretz, it is now commonly accepted that the Scablands was created by a cataclysmic flood. Of course, they won't go the additional step of saying it was from the Noahic flood, but it's at least a good step.
In a matter of 2-3 days a volume of water roughly equal to Lake Ontario came gushing out. This process was repeated at least 30 times as the ice dam formed again - never quite as high or strong as the first time, so less water backed up.
Why posit 30 massive ice dam breaches at the exact same location, when one global flood will do?

User avatar
Grumpy
Banned
Banned
Posts: 2497
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2005 5:58 am
Location: North Carolina

Post #46

Post by Grumpy »

otseng
Why posit 30 massive ice dam breaches at the exact same location, when one global flood will do?
Because one global flood WON'T do. The evidence of the Scablands has been well studied, the location of the multiple ice dams located and confirmed and the errosive evidence correlated to that location. The exact same type of phenomina are seen today in Iceland, such LOCAL floods are well understood.

The facts are that such evidence of actual floods are NOT found worldwide. Whether the LEGENDS of the Biblical Flood were inspired by such local flooding at the end of the last ice age 10-15 thousand years ago could reasonably be argued, as much of the first book of the Old Testament are simply passed down from earlier religious traditions(Gillgamesh comes to mind) and are not historically accurate nor scientifically valid, but are "just-so" stories told around a campfire before writing even existed.

Grumpy 8-)
"Fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom, but it''s end." Clarence Darrow

Nature is not constrained by your lack of imagination.

Poe''s Law-Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won''t mistake for the real thing.

neillos
Student
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2005 5:18 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Evidence for Flood Does Exist!!!

Post #47

Post by neillos »

otseng wrote: Why posit 30 massive ice dam breaches at the exact same location, when one global flood will do?
Count the lines on the sides of the mountains. 30+ of them. These show many fillings of the lake, not one cataclysmic deluge.

I'm curious where the horizontal marks are on the Grand Canyon, since supposedly the horizontal cutting action of the water is what produced the canyon.

Again, we know what evidence of a flood looks like. These evidences should be global, not confined to local areas with clear physical (non-Biblical) causes.

Carico
Scholar
Posts: 293
Joined: Mon May 25, 2009 6:29 pm

Post #48

Post by Carico »

Actually, scientists just found evidence of sea life on mountain peaks and they're wondering how they got there. :shock: That's definitely evidence of a global Flood. But since they reject the Flood even though there are over 200 accounts from ancient peoples of a global flood where one family survived, they have to make up their own stories like ice ages that no one in history passed along. :lol: So it will be interesting to see what kind of a story they make up from their imaginations about the sea life on mountain peaks. I'm sure it will be very entertaining. O:)

User avatar
Scotracer
Guru
Posts: 1772
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:25 pm
Location: Scotland

Post #49

Post by Scotracer »

Carico wrote:Actually, scientists just found evidence of sea life on mountain peaks and they're wondering how they got there. :shock: That's definitely evidence of a global Flood. But since they reject the Flood even though there are over 200 accounts from ancient peoples of a global flood where one family survived, they have to make up their own stories like ice ages that no one in history passed along. :lol: So it will be interesting to see what kind of a story they make up from their imaginations about the sea life on mountain peaks. I'm sure it will be very entertaining. O:)

We know how mountains form and that tells us how sea life fossils got there. Ever wonder why there are mountain ridges in areas that have had inter-continental tectonic movement? ;)
Why Evolution is True
Universe from nothing

Claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence
- Christopher Hitchens

Elvis Trout
Student
Posts: 73
Joined: Mon May 25, 2009 7:29 pm
Location: Royston Vasey

Post #50

Post by Elvis Trout »

Carico wrote:Actually, scientists just found evidence of sea life on mountain peaks and they're wondering how they got there. :shock: That's definitely evidence of a global Flood. But since they reject the Flood even though there are over 200 accounts from ancient peoples of a global flood where one family survived, they have to make up their own stories like ice ages that no one in history passed along. :lol: So it will be interesting to see what kind of a story they make up from their imaginations about the sea life on mountain peaks. I'm sure it will be very entertaining. O:)
No I'm afraid it's not evidence of a global flood, it's just evidence that we live on a very old and yet constantly changing planet. Mountains are just crinkles on our planets surface, they get pushed up from down low. It's really not that strange, think about every single volcanic island, they are mountains that have quite obviously at one point been on the seabed.

Post Reply